Nicholas Paul delivered a dogged display on the bike to secure the bronze medal for T&T in the men’s keirin final of the UCI Track World Cup in Nilai, Malaysia Saturday. However, his compatriot Makaira Wallace did not get beyond the round of 1/16th in the women’s sprint.
Contesting a hugely competitive field that consisted of world champion Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands, the Asian Games champion Mohammed Azizulhasni Awang, Frenchman Rayal Helal, German Henric Hackmann, and Japan’s Minato Nakaishi confirmed the T&T rider’s need to produce something special to be among the podium.
However, as the derny took the front position, Paul settled for the back of the pack with Lavreysen some three spots ahead of him and the Asian champion even further ahead. But the derny’s exit prompted Paul to adjust quickly.
Paul, who once held the record for the flying 200-metre sprint at 9.100 seconds, which he set on September 6th, 2019, at the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Cochabamba, Bolivia, made an immediate move with three laps to go as he attempted to chase Hackmann, who also made early movements to get ahead of the field, into a medal position.
With a lap to go, he caught Hackman ahead of the field, but he later found himself smack in the midst of a desperate bunch seeking the top finish. Still, it was Paul in front as the riders entered the final stretch to the finish line, but Paul was just pipped for the win by Awang, who took the victory and the resulting gold medal, with Lavreysen taking the silver medal in second.
The trio of Nakaishi, Helal, and Hackmann completed the top six positions in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Meanwhile, in the battle for positions 7-12, Holland’s Tijmen Van Loon sealed the top spot, with Martin Cechman of the Czech Republic taking the runner-up eighth spot overall and Colombia’s David Cristian Fontalvo in third for the overall ninth position.
Earlier, T&T’s Makaira Wallace reached the 1/16th round of the women’s sprint but was booted out by arch rival Stefany Florez Cuadrado of Colombia in heat 1 of the match sprint.
Twenty-eight riders faced the qualifying flight 200 meters earlier, with Wallace taking the final spot in a time of 10.993 seconds. However, as she advanced to the 1/16 round, she could not get the better of Cuadrado, who was fifth in the qualifiers in 10.457 and below Emma Finucane, who produced the fastest time at 10.130 seconds.
